


Wildest Dreams

by JamieMac26



Category: Criminal Minds RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 14:53:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5421218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JamieMac26/pseuds/JamieMac26
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Falling in love with a co-star was never a good idea but Riley seemed to be making a habit out of it. However, maybe this time...it wasn't such a bad idea after all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wildest Dreams

Riley was stretched out in the bed sitting in the middle of the set. The sheet was pulled tight around her, keeping her body covered. The lanky man that was lying next to her was sitting up, flipping through the script. He looked up and started talking to the director, Riley just watched him. They had been working on this movie together for several weeks and each day that went by, Riley found herself falling for him just a little bit more. Scenes, like the one they were about to film, were secretly her favorite. She stared up at the bright lights overhead, trying to ignore the clamoring around her. She was tired, they had been working on this scene for several hours and they only had one quick bit left to shoot and they’d finally be done for the day.

She felt movement next to her and she glanced over as her co-star settled down in the bed. He was stretched out on his back, the sheets low on his hips. Riley couldn’t keep herself from admiring his bare chest.

The director yelled ‘places on set’ and Riley’s head hit the pillow, her eyes closed. ‘Action’ echoed throughout the space and her eyes opened. She had quickly fallen into character, her lines and movements running through her mind. She stretched and yawned, rising up on her elbow as she turned to face her sleeping companion. Her fingers twitched as she reached out, the tips lightly brushing the bare skin of his abdomen. They traced a pattern upwards, reaching his chest. She placed her hand, palm down at the base of his ribcage. Her breathing hitched and she held her breath as she felt his heart beat beneath her hand. She scooted closer to him, resting her head gently on his shoulder.

“Good morning beautiful,” His voice husky from sleep.

She turned her head, kissing his shoulder, “If every night is going to be like that, I think I might have to spend more time over here.”

He chuckled, “Would you like some breakfast?”

“Of course, but I think you need to let me help you.”

He slid his legs over the side of the bed, pulling on a pair of pajama pants, standing up and tying the drawstrings. He reached for her hands, pulling her up from the bed, the sheet coming with her. Once she was on her feet, his arms were around her, pulling her flush against his body. He kissed her, deeply and with a lot of passion. He pulled way, lightly kissing the tip of her nose. “I’ll see you downstairs.”

She watched him walk out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind him and took a deep breath.

The director yelled ‘cut’ and ‘that’s a wrap’ and Riley padded over to wardrobe so she could pull on some real clothes. As she was pulling on a pair of jeans, he popped his head into the room.

“Are you decent?”

“Matthew, you’ve seen me naked, there is no need for the modesty.”

“Yes, well that was when we were acting and there is always a need for modesty around a beautiful woman.” His smile was stunning, “I just wanted to tell you that you did a great job today. Filming these types of scenes can be difficult at best but for your first go around, you did amazing.”

Riley blushed, he cheeks flaming up. “Thanks Matthew, you made it really easy and comfortable.”

He stepped into the room, slinging an arm over her shoulder. He turned and kissed the top of her head, “See you bright and early in the morning, my lovely friend.” He turned and walked out the door, as quickly as he had walked in.

She couldn’t breathe. Yes, she was very much falling in love with Matthew Gray Gubler.

 

“What do you mean by you’re in love with Matthew Gubler?” Emma cocked her head, scrutinizing her best friend.

Riley shrugged her shoulders and grabbed her glass of wine, avoiding the question and the look.

“Come on Riley…when you text me that you think you’re in love with your co-star, you can’t expect me to just ignore that. You need to just spill, right now.”

“There isn’t anything to spill. I think that working with him in the capacity that we are, has, well it has messed with my feelings. I’m a girl dammit! I’m allowed to feel something.” Riley took a long sip, the effects after a glass and a half, finally taking its toll.

“I’m not saying that you aren’t allowed to feel, but you said, in the very beginning, that you wouldn’t fall for your co-stars. This is the third one Riley…when will it stop.”

Riley’s head buzzed and she was starting to not be able to think clear thoughts. “They didn’t all turn out badly.”

Emma rolled her eyes and sighed, loudly, “Bull! They have all ended badly Riley and you’ve been the one left picking up the pieces of your broken heart. You can’t keep getting these feelings just because you’re in a romantic situation…because that romance isn’t real.”

“Look, he has no idea that I feel this way and I don’t plan on letting him know.” Riley was getting rather annoyed at her friend, though she knew that Emma had her best intentions in mind, she still didn’t want to have this conversation again.

“Riley, I love you and I don’t want to see you get hurt. Do you promise me that you’ll just try to bury this? Promise me that you won’t let him get to you, that you won’t let him hurt you?”

Riley nodded. She was tired from the long day on set and Emma being the overprotective friend wasn’t making her feel any better. “I promise. Can we call it a night, I would really just like to go to bed.”

Emma agreed and went to close out the tab.

Riley had known Emma for five years. She had met the petite blond during her first audition. She had been terrified, but Emma, who worked for the studio, helped calm Riley’s nerves…she had been by her side ever since. Emma let Riley move in with her after not being able to find a job in the first month, when funds started to get tight. Emma had even managed to get Riley the audition that had finally jump started her career. She had been in Riley’s corner every step of the way and Riley knew that she was just continuing that.

They were only a short cab ride away from the bar and as soon as they entered their apartment, Riley bee-lined for her room. The combination of the wine and the emotions had drained her. If she didn’t get a handle on her feelings for Matthew, then filming this movie was going to completely exhaust her. Why did he have to be so nice? Why did he have to care? Why did he have to be so cute? Riley crawled into bed, allowing the weight of the day to just sink her into the soft mattress.

 

She had bags under her eyes that no makeup seemed to want to cover. She had spent an extra 20 minutes in that stupid chair while stuff was globed onto her face. She needed more coffee.

“Riley, I think maybe you need this.”

Riley looked at his reflection in the mirror while taking the java from his outstretched hand. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She took a drink, allowing the warm liquid to do its work. “I did really need this.”

Matthew laughed and sat down in the chair next to her, “Rough night?”

“Just a little too much to drink, though I really didn’t think I drank that much,” Riley held the cup near her face, breathing in the intoxicating scent. “How did you know?”

“I just had a hunch. I know that the stress of filming starts to get to me at about this time, long days and all that.”

“How do you do it? I’ve only filmed a small handful of movies, but you, you work all year on a TV show and then manage to film a movie in your spare time.” Riley was genuinely curious, she wanted to know what his secret was.

He shrugged his shoulders, “I just really enjoy what I do. If I wasn’t doing this, I’d probably be working just as hard at something else. What else am I going to do with my time?” He smiled at her through the mirror and Riley couldn’t stop her insides from twisting in anxious knots. “I promise that you’ll get used to it. It just takes time to adjust.”

They both sat in silence for the next several minutes, but he caught Riley looking at him numerous times. Each time he’d just wink or smile, then he’d look back down at his phone. Riley thought back to what she had promised Emma and knew that if she didn’t get a handle on this, quickly, it was going to escalate out of her control.

 

At least the scenes today did not involve a bed and mostly nakedness. Riley needed a break from her over worked senses, but she should have known that she wasn’t about to be that lucky. Movies are filmed out of sequence, and while they had already filmed the intimate bedroom scenes, the more emotional ones were still on the docket. While Riley glanced over her script for the day, she felt the panic start to rise. This was a romantic dramedy and the parts that were going to make the audience cry…well that’s what they were supposed to be shooting today.

She must have looked distraught because Matthew was at her side rather quickly. “Riley, are you okay?” He placed his hand on her arm, causing her to turn and look at him.

She tried to steady herself, deep breaths, but him being that close was not helping. She took a step back, “Yeah, I’m good, just a bit nervous is all.” Liar!

“There isn’t anything to be nervous about. I know that you’ve got this, just think of something sad...that usually does the trick.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” She mumbled under her breath.

He looked down at her before patting her on the shoulder and walking back over to his spot. She looked over at him. He looked so poised and confident and she was falling to pieces inside. “Good God Riley, pull yourself together.” She yelled silently to herself. “You are a professional and it’s about time you started acting like one.” The internal pep talk continued and she started to gain some composure.

The scene started and Riley transformed into her character. That part was getting easier and easier and she was soon lost up in the moment, forgetting about her earlier anxiety and just becoming the girl in front of the camera. In the beginning she was doing great, but as the scene when on, something in her changed and she started to mess up her lines.

 

“Okay, cut! We’re going to take a thirty minute break while we re-set. Riley, come here.” The director barked out orders and Riley knew that she had screwed up that last bit, horrifically.

“Sir, I am so sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

“Look, I know that this kind of emotion can be hard to tap into, but you’ve got to find a way to do it kid. This part of the movie is crucial, you know that.”

“I know,” Riley looked down at her shoes. She hated not being able to perform the way she wanted to, the way that was expected of her.

“Go and get you some coffee, maybe a little bit to eat and just try to clear your head.” The director turned away from her, focusing on other directorial duties.

Riley sighed and shuffled her way over to her set chair. She climbed up into it and stared off into space. The scene they were shooting was one where her character and Matthew’s character have a huge fight. He was accusing her of having an affair, of being unfaithful. There needed to be tears, yelling, emotional outbursts, begging and crying. These were all things that Riley was completely capable of doing but for whatever reason, she was having a hard time bringing those emotions to the surface.

She was lost in her thoughts and didn’t hear him come up behind her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and she squealed, jumping out of her chair.

“Oh my god Riley, I did not mean to scare you.” There was laughter in his voice.

She shook her head, a smile present on her face. She climbed back up into her chair, “It’s okay, I guess I was just a bit too lost in my own head.”

“That’s why I came over here. You seem a little out of it. Is everything okay? You should be able to nail this scene.” He sat down in the chair next to her, his hand rested on her leg.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me today.” Riley placed her head in her hands, letting out a deep sigh.

“We all have our good days and we all have our bad days and most of our days are the in-between kind. Don’t beat yourself. I promise that I will get you through this.” He started to run small circles near her knee with this thumb.

Riley looked down at his hand on her leg. What was he doing to her? “Thanks, I really do appreciate all of the help that you’ve given me and you’ve been so blasted patient with me.”

“That’s what I’m here for and besides, we’re friends, we’ve got to help one another out.”

Friends, they were friends. Of course they were. He was friends with just about everyone. She shifted in her seat, crossing her legs so that it was out of reach of his hand. She couldn’t think with his hand on her leg and she didn’t want him to notice what that small movement was doing to her.

They sat together, reading over the script. Matthew gave her some pointers, helped her process a couple things that had her a bit stumped. He made sure to tell her that this was something she had in her to do; she just needed to get out of her own head and work on getting into her character’s head. He was so animatedly telling her how he gets into character, he didn’t see the tall brunette come up behind him. It wasn’t until she had stepped in-between his legs that he actually noticed she was there.

“Evan, hey…I didn’t know that you were coming by the set today.”

She glanced over at Riley, before leaning in and kissing Matthew lightly on the lips. “I thought I’d come by and surprise you. Figured, maybe we could go out and grab a bite to eat.”

“Sure, let me go and grab my bag. Oh, Riley, this is Evan. Evan this is Riley.”

Riley reached her hand across Matthew, extended towards Evan. The beautiful woman took Riley’s hand and shook it, a huge smile gracing her face. “Matthew has told me so much about it. I’m so excited that I’ve finally gotten the chance to meet you.”

Riley smiled but inside she was screaming. Of course this amazingly attractive woman would be nice. Matthew wouldn’t be with anyone who wasn’t. She wanted so badly to roll her eyes at how stupid she was being, for even thinking that he would be available. His kindness towards her was him just being a friend. Only in her wildest dreams did she even think that she stood a chance.

“So, how has the filming been coming along?” Evan sat down in Matthew’s chair, turning towards Riley.

Riley nodded, “It’s been going well. I guess there have been a couple snags, like today, but overall I think that I’ve been doing okay.”

“What kind of snags?”

“Umm…we are supposed to be getting in this big fight. I accuse him of a lot of different things and he in turn does the same to me. He ends up walking out on me. You know the pinnacle dramatic scene that must be in every romantic movie.”

Evan laughed and leaned in closer, “He isn’t very good at them either, so don’t feel too bad.”

Riley couldn’t pull her eyes away from the other woman’s smile. It lit up her entire face and at that moment, she realized just why Matthew was with her. “So I’ve noticed. He’s too nice I think.”

“That and he is really crappy at fighting. He is always way too focused on how to make you laugh instead. I will be furious with him one minute and laughing so hard my sides hurt the next and you know the worst part…he wins every damn time. Wait, I take that back…he’s very good at the fighting bit.”

Now it was Riley’s turn to laugh. “Oh my god, that is brilliant. I guess he is a genius, he doesn’t just play one on TV.”

“That Matthew, he is a gem.” Evan stood up from the chair, “It was really nice to meet you Riley. We should go out for coffee or drinks sometime. I’d love to get to know you better.”

“Are you ready to head out? Riley, would you like us to bring you anything?” Matthew placed is hand on the small of Evan’s back, turning them both towards the door. He looked over his shoulder at Riley and smiled as she shook her head. “Okay, see you in a little bit.”

Riley sunk down even further in her chair, the sound of her heart breaking the only thing that rang in her ears.

After lunch, Riley took her place on set, once again reading through her script as she waited for Matthew to get out of make-up. The director approached her, checking to see if she was prepared to go ahead with these particular scenes. Riley knew that she didn’t actually have a choice, but appreciated the small gesture.

Matthew came to stand across from her. Seeing him after finding out that he had a girlfriend wasn’t easy but Riley knew that she could us this newly inflicted pain to her advantage. She needed to muster up the emotion required to have a full blown argument, a passionate one at that, and this was the ammo that she needed.

The director yelled action and Riley seemed to get lost into her character. There was anger, pure emotion, raw feelings, and real tears. Towards the end of the scene, she sunk down to the floor, her body collapsing under the weight of not only her character’s circumstances but the ones she had found herself in as well. She buried her face in her hands and her body shook as she heard the door close behind Matthew as he exited. The director yelled cut and Riley could barely make out the congratulatory praise aimed at her acting. She quickly wiped at the tears that were still flowing down her cheeks before she rose back up to her feet. Matthew was at her side, his arms encircling her waist as he hugged her.

“Riley…that was amazing, where did all of that come from.” Matthew’s voice was soft in her ear, his words meant for her alone.

She shook her head. She couldn’t tell him how she felt. She couldn’t let on that the tears were real, that the rawness that she was feeling was eating at her. “I don’t really know. I just thought about everything that you told me and pictured a sad moment in my life. It just all seemed to flow after that.” She hated that she was lying but lying was so much easier than the truth.

“I think that we’ve had enough for one day. Tomorrow will be easier and it is a later call for principle cast. Call time will be 11 for our stars. That’s a wrap for today people.” The assistant director bellowed across the sound stage.

Riley headed over towards her chair, her bag hanging off the back. She grabbed it, slinging it over her shoulder. A strong hand gripped her arm. She turned to look.

“I was just wondering if you’d like to go and grab dinner with me.” Matthew released her arm, his fingers twitching nervously at his sides.

Riley cocked her head to the side. She wasn’t sure how to process this amongst the events of the day. “Sure,” She heard herself say. What?!?!

“Awesome, I know of this great little Italian place. Do you like Italian food? Also, I can come and pick you up or you can just meet me there.” Matthew’s smile grew, his eyes lighting up with the excitement.

“I’ll just meet you there if that’s okay? I have to run home first and I really need a shower.” Riley reached into her bag for her phone, “What is the name of the place?”

Matthew reached for the device, taking it from her small hands. “I’m pretty sure it’s called Bottega Louie, and it’s downtown and they’ve got really good food.” He quickly typed in the name into Google maps before handing the phone back to her.

Riley stared at the address, mentally mapping out a route from her house. “Okay, I will meet you there at 7ish?”

He gave her a thumbs up as he spun on his heels, heading towards the group of writers that were huddled around a small table.

Riley couldn’t believe what was happening and she wasn’t sure how to take it all. She should be worried that he wasn’t single, right? But, at the same time, they were working together; this was just a friendly dinner, his way of saying good job. Oh boy, what had she just gotten herself into?

 

She stared at herself in the mirror. Not good enough, she thought. There was no way she was going to be able to compete with the likes of Evan. There was no way that she was going to win the heart of the very adorable Matthew Gray Gubler.

“Riley you are just going to have to resign yourself to just being his friend. It’s better than nothing.” She spoke to her reflection. “You have to stop wanting to date the men that you are working with.” She nodded her head at her decision and finished applying the last coat of lip gloss. She might not live up to the standards of women like Evan but she looked pretty damn good.

She left a bit early, knowing that the trip to downtown LA could very well be ugly. She lucked out though and the drive ended up being pretty much obstacle free. She was early, and figured that she would just go and wait in the lobby for Matthew to show up. She found a great parking spot and walked the short distance to the quaint little Italian joint.

The smells attacked her senses when she opened the door and her stomach immediately started to grumble. Apparently, she was hungry. The hostess greeted her with a friendly smile and asked how many in her party.

“Two, I think that I am still waiting on the other one, I doubt that he is here yet.” Riley glanced around the dimly lit room, not seeing Matthew anywhere.

“What is your name?” She glanced down at her book before meeting Riley with that smile.

“Riley Ashford but the reservation is probably under Matthew Gubler.” Riley tried to lean over the podium, working at sneaking at glace at the reservation book.

“Miss Ashford, Mr. Gubler is already here, so please, follow me.” She grabbed a menu and turned quickly on her heel.

Riley followed her through the crowded eatery. There sat Matthew, back in a dark corner. Well no wonder she hadn’t seen him. When he saw her, he stood up and reached out for her hand. Riley found that this simple touch was making her cheeks start to burn. Thankfully, the hostess interrupted them by stating that their server would be with them shortly.

Riley sat next to Matthew in the cozy little booth. This setting was far too intimate for two people who just worked together and she slid a bit away, putting a few more inches between them.

“I am so happy that you agreed to dinner Riley. I’ve wanted, for a while now, to get to know you better. I think that in order for us to be able to have believable chemistry onscreen, we need to get to get past a few barriers with one another.”

Riley closed her eyes. She knew that this was going to be something different than what she had imagined. Of course he hadn’t asked her out on a date. He had a girlfriend. She was here just as co-star. She was here as a friend. She was not going to date the men that she worked with anymore. “I think that’s a good idea. We have to get pretty familiar with one another on set. I know that I would be more comfortable if I knew you better.”

“Exactly,” He exclaimed, a hand going over his mouth after he realized how loud he had just been. “I’m glad that we’re on the same page. So down to the nitty gritty…are you single right now?

Wow, Riley thought, now why would he ask that question? She nodded her head, “Yes.” She didn’t want to elaborate on the travesty that was her last relationship. There was no need to drum up the drama.

“Good, good. What is the craziest thing that you’ve ever done?” He leaned forward, his elbows on the table, his chinned propped up in his hands.

“Oh goodness, I have no idea. Umm…I went skydiving once. I did get tattoo on a dare, but I was drunk at the time.” Riley leaned back, against the soft material of the booth.

“Where is this tattoo?” His eyes were fixated on her face.

She felt herself blushing and she was pretty sure that he could see her bright red cheeks, even in the dim ambiance. “Now I’m not quite sure I want to tell you that.”

“Riley, lest you forget that I have seen you naked,” His smile grew mischievous.

“Mostly naked, not completely naked, there are still bits of me you have yet to see.” She met his stare dead on, not wanting to back down from this game of 20 questions.

“Oh. Oh,” He looked down at the table; the area of her lap would have been on full view if it wasn’t hidden beneath the wooden top, “Naughty girl.”

“I told you, it was a dare and I was drunk. I wouldn’t have done it sober.”

“Well, now that is disappointing. I was kind of beginning to like the saucy Riley.”

“What about you Gubler, any tattoos?”

He shook his head, “I have yet to get one. What is the weirdest place that you’ve ever had sex?”

“Geez, you just go straight for the dirty ones, don’t you?” Riley shifted in her seat, nervous about where this line of questioning was headed.

“We need to break down those barriers, what better way than to just hit them on the head. Again, I have seen you mostly naked.” He winked at her.

She rolled her eyes, “I’m not very adventurous in that aspect but I did date a guy once who liked having sex on the beach. We almost got caught once.” She smiled at the memories that flashed through her mind. “What about you? You and Evan find any interesting places to get down and dirty in?”

He scrunched up his nose, “Evan? Evan and I haven’t had sex. Speaking of drunken stories, I did have sex with a girl in the back of a night club. Not my finest moment.”

Not had sex with Evan? Again, what? “A night club huh? Isn’t that a little bit gross?”

“Not any more gross than sex on the beach. I could quote Spencer here but I’ll save you the lengthy answer and just go with ewwww.”

Riley laughed. She really laughed. “Touché Gubler, touché. It was pretty gross, I will admit that you get sand in places you never wanted sand to be.”

Their food soon arrived and the conversation turned more casual as they ate their way through plates of pasta. Riley had to admit that she was having a really good time. She was probably having too good of a time but she didn’t care at that moment. He was amazing. He was funny, charming, kind and really seemed to want to get to know her. She felt special in his presence and not falling for him was only going to be more challenging.

As dinner neared its end, Matthew reached across the table and took Riley’s hand in his. “Thank you for such a great evening. I think that we need to do this more often.” He brought her hand up to his lips, kissing the skin ever so gently. As he let go and she pulled her hand back to her body, she could still feel it tingle.

He walked her out to her car. He stood on the sidewalk and waited for her to pull out and head down the street. She watched him shrink in her rearview mirror, until he disappeared from her sight. Sadly, she had to tell herself, Evan was one very lucky girl.

 

Riley found herself back in the bed, mostly naked with the sheet pulled up around her chest, that she had been in the week before. She had gotten an early call, needing her to be on the set to reshoot the bedroom scene. There was something about one of the cameras being misaligned for the right shot. She wasn’t entirely sure what all of it meant; just that she had dragged herself down to the set several hours before her call time.

Matthew walked onto the set, donning only his boxer shorts and climbed into the bed next to her.

“Good morning beautiful,” He leaned towards her, kissing her softly on the forehead.

Riley leaned back against the pillows, “I am not sure how you do it. How are you this cheerful this early in the morning? Especially since we weren’t supposed to be here so early?”

He laughed and propped himself up on his elbow, facing her, “You want to know my secret?” She nodded and he continued, “Lots and lots of strong, black coffee.”

“I guess I need to be drinking your coffee then, as mine doesn’t seem to be helping me much.”

“I need for you two to do this scene exactly as you did it last week. I apologize for getting you both here unexpectedly, so let’s get this done as quickly and perfectly as possible.” The director stood next to the bed, checking the lighting as he gave his instructions.

Both Matthew and Riley nodded their heads, getting themselves into place as the director yelled action.

 

Riley sat in her chair, wrapped up in a warm robe, as the crew worked on the reset. She was flipping through some magazine, stopping as her eye caught a familiar face. She held the picture closer to her face. Sure enough, it was a photo of Evan looking very cozy with a man, a man who wasn’t Matthew. What? Did Matthew know about this? Was he aware that his girlfriend was cheating on him? Should she let him know? Yes, she had to let him know. He was her friend, right? As his friend, it was her responsibility to let him know. She shut the pages and glanced around the busy set. She didn’t see him anywhere, so she hopped down off of her chair and padded her way across the room towards the door that led to the trailer lot.

The bright sun hit as she stepped out into it. She squinted, allowing her eyes to quickly adjust and set off in the direction of Matthew’s trailer. She knocked on his door a couple times and listened. She couldn’t hear any movement and he wasn’t coming to answer. She reached up and tried the handle. It was open. She pulled the door towards her and stuck her head inside. It was empty. She stepped back down and thought for a moment. Where could he be? She pulled her phone out of her pocket, shooting him a quick text.

**Riley: Where are you?**

She walked back inside. It was several minutes before he replied…

**Matthew: Just leaving a quick meeting with the director. What’s up?**

**Riley: I just want to ask you a quick question. I’m sitting back by the cast chairs.**

**Matthew: I will be there in second.**

As Riley was reading his message, he appeared next to her.

“Should I be worrying over the fact that you are this insistent upon finding me?” Matthew jumped up into his chair, his eyes not leaving hers.

Riley fingered the pages of the magazine that she now held in her lap. “I was flipping through this and I found…” She turned to the page and folded it back, sighing quietly. “I found this Matthew.” She handed it to him, waiting with bated breath as he looked at the picture.

He shrugged his shoulders, “What am I supposed to be looking at?”

“Right there,” Riley reached over, pointing at the picture of Evan.

“Evan and her boyfriend, what about it,’ Matthew looked up at her.

Riley blinked a couple times and then just stared at him. “I thought that you were her boyfriend?”

“What would give you that idea?”

“Umm…how about the fact that she kissed you the first day I met her?”

“She did,” Matthew scrunched up his nose, “Oh, that, that didn’t mean anything. Evan and I have known each other for a long time. She’s always says hello that way. Evan and I have never dated.”

Riley tilted her head to the side, glanced down at the magazine in his hands, then back up at his face. “You aren’t dating her?”

“I’m not dating her. Riley, are you okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost, you’ve gone all white.” He reached over and placed his hand on her forehead.

She shook her head, “I’m fine.” Her heart was pounding in her chest and blood was rushing in her ears. A slow smile started to form on her face. “I am really fine, I promise. You can stop checking to see if I have a fever.” She pushed his hand off of her forehead, but he caught her fingers before she could completely pull away.

“Do you having questions about Evan have anything to do with you, maybe, having feelings for a certain co-star?” Matthew grinned at her, leaning in closer.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” She gave his hand a squeeze. “I am wondering though, would you like to go out to dinner with me?”

“Only if you let me kiss you right now.”

She felt her cheeks start to burn but she nodded her head. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from him as he leaned in even closer. His breath was warm on her skin and when his lips connected with hers, she felt a jolt coarse through her. This was much better than kissing him on set. This was almost magical. This was unlike anything she had ever, even in her wildest dreams, could have imagined.


End file.
